Sharing the Pain
by Akatsuki assassin
Summary: When Voldemort claimes victory after "killing" Harry, Neville is the only one brave enough to stand up to him. But there is someone else brave enough to stand up for his sake. T for torture.


**Disclaimer: Harry Potter. I don't own it.**

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"It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?" asked Bellatrix excitedly.

Voldemort looked down at the now-helpless boy at his feet, studying him, trying to remember who he had met through his face. "Ah, yes. Frank and Alice Longbottom. They gave me quite a lot of trouble, those two," said Voldemort. But you are a pure-blood, are you not? You would be most welcome as a Death Eater. The famed Longbottom, who was able to rally hope when all seemed lost; I might have use for you."

"I'll join you when hell freezes over!" He turned his head enough to address the crowd behind him. "Dumbledore's Army!" The spell keeping them all quiet broke and he was met with cries of enthusiasm.

With an annoyed wave of his new wand, Voldemort restored order to the scene. "A most regrettable decision on your part boy." He turned his head to the left to address Bellatrix. Shoe him what happens to those who disrupt order in my new world."

She smiled gratefully at her Lord and bowed before turning her attention as well as her wand on Neville. "_Crucio!_" she yelled out. He screamed out in agony and was writhing on the floor as his torturer laughed.

"Stop! Neville! Stop hurting him!"

One girl broke free from the spell keeping the crowd where they were and rushed next to Neville.

Bellatrix, wanting to see how they would react, stopped her curse on the boy. Even after she stopped, though, he was still screaming, although it began to die down after a few seconds.

The girl kneeled down right next to Neville's head and place it in her lap. "Neville, are you alright?"

He groaned and weakly opened his eyes. "Luna, you have to get back there. They'll do the same thing to you for just defending me."

"If I did that, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself, although I hope you can forgive me. _Petrificus Totalus._"

Neville's limbs snapped to his sides and his whole body went rigid. Luna gently moved Neville's head to the ground, and, still kneeling turned to face Voldemort. "You can continue on me if you wish. Please, just don't hurt Neville anymore," she begged.

Bellatrix smiled again before lifting her wand when her Lord's hand was lifted in front of her, signaling her to stop. "But, my Lord, this is the other girl who escaped from Malfoy Manor! She's the daughter of the filth who was printing stories that favored the Potter brat! She should be dealt wi-"

"I know who she is, Bellatrix," hissed Voldemort. "That is why I have prepared something different for her. She will be the example I set for those who fall…out of my grace."

With a wave of his wand, a dark mass was pulled from the castle. Upon catching it and letting it unroll, it turned out to be the Sorting Hat. "There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," announced Voldemort to the crowd. "There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, girl?"

Luna grew very nervous with the full attention of the Dark Lord focused on her. It seemed as though she was being challenged to step back and be safe while Neville took all of the pain. She knew that if she even tried that, Voldemort would kill her on the spot. It didn't matter though, because she wasn't intending on backing down.

She just noticed the Hat dangling in front of her face and then heard Voldemort give her an order: "Put it on." With her hands shaking a little bit, she took the Hat and placed it on her head. Voldemort once again addressed the crowd. "Neville's girlfriend here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me." He turned to the masked and hooded Death Eater next to him and said two words that swallowed Luna in fear.

"Light it."

The Death Eater raised his wand to point at the Hat, and, without a word, caused it to erupt in black flames.

The effect was instantaneous. The moment the Hat caught on fire, Luna began to scream from all of the burns she was getting around her head. She dropped her wand, canceling the spell that she had put on Neville. He ran to her as fast as he could and grabbed the hat from her head.

And the, seemingly knowing what he was doing, he reached his hand into the burning Hat. When he withdrew his hand, he held the sword of Godric Gryffindor in it. With a wild swing in the direction of the snake, Neville managed to behead it. In the chaos that followed, he was able to grab Luna's hand and keep her from getting trampled by the rush of people.

Once inside the Great Hall, they managed to stay together despite the mass of people pressing from all directions. They looked around as all of the Death Eaters were being brought down by the numbers that they were up against.

And then everything was silent. They looked toward the center to find Voldemort and Harry slowly circling each other. Bellatrix lay a little ways away, dead. They talked for a minute, and finally started a duel. They each fired only one spell, the spells that they were famous for.

And it was all over. There was a moment of silence while everyone took in what they saw, and then everyone started rushing in, cheering for Harry, who had just defeated the most powerful Dark wizard alive. Neville and Luna were among the first to reach him.

Sometime during the confusion, Professor McGonagall summoned the tables back to the Hall, but no one was sitting where they should. Neville pulled Luna over to a spot where he could put down the sword and sat with her next to him.

The entire time they were eating, their hands remained together, and they were both smiling for reasons other than the end of the war.

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**I'm going to make a collection of these and put them up as different stories. If you're wondering what I'm talking about keep reading.**

**And I finally got what I was waiting for: a hate review for Dawn.**

**Like Logic, this next part isn't part of my story, I just had to do it.**

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When the boy cut off the head of the snake, no one paid any more attention to each other, least of all the Death Eater who set the Sorting Hat on fire. He had discarded the piece of wood in his hand, it would do him no good anymore and slow him down. He quickly located the Hat and put out the fire before it could do any real damage. He bundled it up and put it into the pocket of a passing student; she would later claim to have the foresight to pick it up.

No one seemed to notice the man removing his mask or discarding his cloak revealing a rather regular set of clothing he had put on underneath. He didn't bother to wipe the blood dripping from the corners of his eye, the people here could stop it from bleeding and clear the blood while they were at it. He would just tell them that he didn't know what hit him. Maybe he could also ask to fix his eyesight.

Speaking of eyes, he decided that it would be best that no one saw their current state. And no one did see them as they turned from a red iris with a black tri-windmill inside into a red iris with three black tomoe inside, and then for the red to disappear altogether. As he ran with the rest of the people, he passed a window that had fallen to the ground but hadn't shattered. As he passed over it, he looked at his reflection and was pleased with what he saw.

A man who looked ordinary with black eyes and black hair in a pony-tail. He noticed something and closed his bleeding eye and put his hand over it for good measure. It wouldn't be good if someone got suspicious.

When he got inside he simply ran around, not helping with the fighting at all. When it was over, he looked for a group that he could blend in with. As he passed the boy who was being tortured earlier, he noticed he was sitting next to the girl who helped him and he had the sword he had pulled from the strange hat the man had set to fire in front of him. A thought came over him and he felt the steel from his own blade go down his arm. He had never had a victim escape and he had intended that the girl would die.

Before the sword could make its way out his sleeve, it stopped. If he killed the girl right now, he would be run out of the castle. And that was something that he couldn't afford to let happen. He needed to collect as much information as he could on what these people could do with their sticks. And having people looking for him would just make his job harder.

Besides, Kisame would never let him live it down.

Sighing, Itachi made the sword hide itself once more and continued walking. She was very lucky to be alive.


End file.
